Month: November 2016

I’ve received and approved the .pdf galley for the print version of The Daedalus Enigma from my publisher. I’m just waiting for the print edition to be uploaded to the printer.

Since this book is considerably longer than the previous books in the series (about 20-30k words longer), the retail price for the print version will be $16.99 USD, one dollar higher than the other books. Pricing is controlled by my publisher and the printer. I only have control over any special sales I may run at the various conventions I attend/sell at.

Which reminds me, I still need to preregister for ConNooga. I’m just waiting to hear back from the chair of the writing/author track about available panels and whether or not they will be providing authors’ alley tables. If not, I need to see if any table spaces are still available to buy. If not, I’ll go back to book pushing with a few copies of each book loaded into my roller bag.

Now for the Fun With Giant Spiders segment of our program! Arachnophobes need not read below this point.

Spider Girl by Bloodfang15 ~ Deviantart

Oh wow! I didn’t dream I’d find such a perfect illustration for what I pictured in my head.

I’m sure many of you have heard the term “Jumping the Shark” in reference to when a TV show crosses the line of having even semi-plausible plotlines. My husband has a similar phrase for movies or books which just don’t pan out in the end, where apparently the writers copped out: “Giant Spider.” This originated from his reaction to Stephen King’s It.

Well, just for shits and giggles, I decided to incorporate a giant spider of my own into The Daedalus Enigma. Only I made sure that it was plausible within the parameters of the storyline and actually fairly early in the book rather than a cop out ending.

The following was my very first blog post ever… on a different platform which turned out to be totally inadequate to my needs as an author and was subsequently abandoned. (I have edited/tweaked the entry to clean it up a bit.)

Nov. 25, 2011, Black Friday

I think I finally realize what I want to accomplish as an author. I wish to be a builder of worlds. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I’ve always known this.

Since having my first novel, Blood Curse, published by Gypsy Shadow Publishing earlier this year I have been plunged into the literary world. I have found myself meeting people I never hoped to meet outside of a book signing or a convention. And, I have made friends. I hope to make more.

Back to world building, however, this reality has just lost one of the greatest world builders it has ever known. Anne McCaffrey, one of my favorite authors as well as one of my greatest inspirations to write, passed from this realm earlier this week. She gave us multiple worlds to explore and enjoy. She will be greatly missed.

Sadly, I never really had the chance to know her as a person. I have only seen her twice in person. The first time was at DragonCon 1989, back when it was still a relatively small con relegated to one hotel rather than the sprawling monstrosity it has become. I was 23 at the time and too star struck to get up the nerve to go talk to her. The second time was at a book signing at a small used bookstore in Longwood, FL known as Legible Leftovers and the Cat’s Meow (“Books on cats and everything else. Cats on books and everything else.” It is nolonger in operation.) There, I was able to speak briefly with her. Very briefly.

Still, I do have Ms. McCaffrey to thank, in a roundabout way, for my book being published. Not only did her works inspire me to write as well as provide a guide on good characterization, but she cowrote two series of books with Elizabeth Ann Scarborough. When I was still looking for a publisher (a four year journey, as it turned out) I saw that a friend of mine, who was already published under the pen name Beth Wylde, had listed Gypsy Shadow’s FB page on her “likes.” I went to their page and found the link for their website. This was 2010, and I had already been shopping my book to agents then to traditional publishers that didn’t require an agent. It was time to look into epub. My research showed them to be a small indie publisher. There was praise from some and pans from others for them. What sold me on querying them was the news that they had just contracted with Elizabeth to epublish her early titles that the rights on had reverted to her.

I figured that if they were reliable enough to land a big name author, they were worth the risk.

So, thank you, Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, for inspiring me and gaining me the chance to become another Builder of Worlds.

The release process for The Daedalus Enigma has been… interestingly different.

Only after several attempts on various computers using various OSs/browsers was my publisher able to get Barnes and Noble’s site to upload the ebook.

Now it is the Library of Congress’ turn to be difficult. We are still waiting for an ISBN number for the print version.

This, of course means a further delay in adding a photo of the book to my ongoing Take a Pirate Home for Christmas campaign. I realize I could print out a copy of the book cover on card stock and put some Christmas and pirate props with it for the photo, but I don’t think it would mesh as well with the other photos in the campaign, since they have physical books featured in them.

I keep telling myself, “Patience, Grasshopper.”

In other updates, I am a few pages into chapter 30 of Maelstrom of Fate and approaching the grand finale. I’m on the last two pages of my plot point notes. Not to worry though, there will be at least one more book in the series, if not a full secondary series; however, it will not be started on immediately after finishing Maelstrom.

I have plans to scribe some more episodes of The Adventures of Pigg & Woolfe than what I currently have drafted. (Which reminds me, I need to get in touch with my beta readers.)

I also intend to start serious research for my planned dystopic novel, There Is No Arizona. I have to get that book written before many of the premises of it become reality 60 years earlier than the story’s time frame. I have some convention friends who are scientists either specializing in some of the subject matter I plan to touch upon, or who can put me in contact with the appropriate experts.

Finally, since I feel the three younger cats are now old enough to not have to worry about them hanging themselves in the pre-lit tree, I went ahead and put the thing up today to get them used to it and to see what sort of damage they may wreak. The past two years we’ve put up a live tree. The bottom branches were too dense for the cats to climb up into them. So far, so good with the artificial tree.